House Sitting
by Mister O
Summary: Monica Rambeau (aka Photon, aka Captain Marvel) does some house sitting for the Fantastic Four


House Sitting  
  
By Mister O  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are property of Marvel Comics Inc. I do not claim to own any of the characters (though if Mr. EIC Joe Quesada is interested in selling Photon, E-Mail me). ^_-  
  
Note (to Photon fans): I have decided to use the Energy Wrap powers Monica used for a time for this story.  
  
Paibok stood before the Skrull Battle Council eagerly awaiting their answer. For ten minutes, all they did was stare at him. The council leader spoke "Would you mind repeating your proposal?"  
  
Paibok smiled "Yes, yes, of course I will! I wish to commission the Skrull X robot to use against the hated, despicable, ugly Fantastic Four in a surprise attack!"  
  
"Might I remind you that an attack on earth is strictly prohibited by the Shi'Ar?"  
  
"Curse of Pain on the Shi'Ar, if we attack the Fantastic Four now while they are not suspecting a thing they will be crushed!" the council leader grimaced.  
  
"The council will consider this in private." The council shuffled out of the room. One minute later, they came back in. "We have given your proposal lengthy consideration; we have decided to approve your campaign."  
  
"When will the robot be ready?"  
  
"It is ready now; Hive's speed Captain Paibok!" The Skrull captain dashed out of the room. The Councilmen looked at each other and began to laugh.  
  
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"Hey Monica thanks again for watching HQ for us!" Johnny Storm said over the televid.  
  
Monica Rambeau, former Avenger and current house sitter for the Fantastic Four, replied, "Don't think anything of it I need to do something to keep my mind from going down the evolutionary ladder with boredom."  
  
Johnny laughed slyly "Hey if your mind *does* go down the evolutionary ladder, call me when you get an overwhelming urge to find a mate!"  
  
"Good bye Johnny," Monica went to turn off the televid when.  
  
"Hey one more thing. Reed wants me to say this, and in the best impression of my brother in law: Don't touch *anything*. Bye!" And the screen went black.  
  
Monica looked around at the famous laboratory of Reed Richards. The huge chamber shone and glowed with instruments that did who knows what…anyone of them could either: a) open a portal to the Negative Zone or b) make cappuccino. "He has a point," she said to herself. 'Well', she thought to herself, 'all you have to do is not touch any of the bright shiny buttons and you won't have to dodge blasts from Annihilus'.  
  
She was prepared to take a short nap in the very comfortable chair when virtually every alarm went off. The screen listed the automated defense systems were coming online…and subsequently each one went down. Monica let out a sigh. 'How one family can make enemies of some of the most powerful people in the universe is beyond me', she thought to herself now preparing to fight whatever was coming.  
  
Her enemies presented themselves before her as they crashed through the nearby wall. The ship was still smoking when two figures jumped out of an open hatch. One of them she recognized as a Skrull. The thing next to him appeared to be a large robot. The Skrull looked around confused.  
  
"Where are the Fantastic Four?"  
  
"They're out. I can take a message for them though." Monica offered.  
  
"Don't patronize me human! For your sass, I'll destroy you! Skrull X, destroy her!"  
  
The large robot leapt into action with twin blasts of fire from its fists. Monica activated her energy field and took the hit, but not without some damage from the blast.  
  
"Urgh," She fell back a bit and then recovered. 'Okay, she thought to herself, 'it's a robot so it should have a few parts that break easy, just a matter of finding which ones'. With this, she let out a blast of pure other-dimensional force from her hands. The machine held up one of its hands and the blast was deflected.  
  
'Damn! It has a force field!' Monica flew up to the far ceiling and the machine was in pursuit. 'If I had my real energy powers I would have taken this thing out by now', she thought to herself, 'going to have to improvise'. She executed a series of loops to try to confuse the machine. No such luck. She then flew in a tight circle over and over again then shot upwards leaving the machine chasing its own tail. She let out a cry and blasted the machine tearing a hole right through it.  
  
The machine dropped to the floor with a resounding crash. Paibok just grimaced.  
  
"There goes a whole year of hazard pay. I'll have to destroy this human myself!" He brought back his fists that glowed and crackled with intense electrical energy. He threw his hands at the human woman and let loose with the power that made him a foe to be trifled with. The energy struck home, the woman dropped to the floor, and her energy field fell. He laughed at his fallen opponent.  
  
Monica tried to get up but she was weakened. 'That energy blast disrupted my dimensional interface. I'm powerless', she thought to herself painfully. She crawled to the main console as the Skrull laughed his green ass off. She got up and was at the console. She smelled ozone and a crackling sound and knew that the Skrull was preparing himself for one more blow. She looked at the console and saw a bright glowing button with the letter 'C' on it. '"C" for capture', she thought to herself.  
  
"Now," the Skrull said "to finish you off."  
  
Monica smiled. "Really, I was about to say the same thing about you!" she turned and pressed the button. There was a low hissing sound followed by a rumble. Paibok got into a defense position and watched for what will happen next. Monica stood triumphant as the rumbling sound grew louder until it filled the whole room. The rumble stopped. For exactly two-seconds it was silent. Then a small panel on the console opened up and out came a steaming hot cappuccino. Monica looked down at the cup, as did Paibok.  
  
"I'm doomed," Monica said with utter certainty.  
  
"I agree," said Paibok as he raised his fists for one final deadly burst of power. Monica grabbed the cup and threw its contents into his face. He screamed as hot Italian coffee bean juice splattered against his face. Monica then grabbed the chair she was sitting in and slammed it across his face. The Skrull went down.  
  
After a bit he sat up and glared at Monica. He growled and darted back for his ship, Monica considered going after him but decided not to. 'Guy is probably embarrassed out of his poor little green skull'. She turned around and sighed as she surveyed the damage caused by the fight and the smoking remains of the machine she blasted. 'Besides', she thought, 'I have bigger problems'.  
  
"Hey Monica," Johnny Storm said as he returned with his other family members to their home. "I'd like to thank you for housing sitting for us. That was really great of you!"  
  
"Don't think of it." Monica said as she was walking out of the door. "Just one thing; you really need to have your cappuccino machine fixed." 


End file.
